The university suspended a Fresno State professor of education in late February after two students said he threatened to bring a gun to class and begin shooting. An investigation is ongoing.

Fresno State and President John D. Welty suspended professor Joe Parks after student Francisco Escutia complained to the dean of the school of education, Paul Beare. University Police contacted Escutia about his complaints.

Escutia told the University Police Department on Feb. 13 that Parks had made the comments the day before.

Escutia, in an interview with The Collegian, said he told University Police that Parks lectured in a teacher preparation class on Feb. 12 about a school shooting and allegedly said, “I wish I could bring my s— and shoot all of you.â€Â Parks immediately said afterwards that he was kidding. Escutia said he interpreted the expletive as referring to a gun.

Escutia said that during the first couple weeks of class, Parks mentioned that he had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

“This was very alarming,â€Â Escutia said.

According to Escutia, the fifth week of the semester was when Parks allegedly made the remarks.

According to an article in The Fresno Bee, Parks did talk in class about when he would carry a gun for protection while researching in Los Angeles.

On Feb. 15, University Police met with another student, who sided with Escutia. Pete Arguijo, 32, of Clovis said that Parks said something similar to what Escutia claimed.

“The issue that I raised, with the department of Curriculum and Instruction, was not due to fear of an imminent threat, since that is not my place to determine,â€Â Arguijo said in an e-mail to The Collegian. “My primary concern was his statement was not in the context of any controversial lesson regarding gun violence in modern schools, nor was there any objective being discussed that day which had any remote connection to his statements.â€Â

Escutia did not approach Parks about his concerns before going to the dean and eventually university police.

The day of the incident, Escutia, who has a bachelor̢۪s and master̢۪s degree in Spanish, e-mailed Beare, the dean of the school of education. Escutia viewed his e-mail to Beare as a warning, not a complaint.

“I wrote [the e-mail] five minutes after I got home from that class,â€Â Escutia told The Collegian. “All I wanted from Parks was to take it back, to say ‘I’m sorry,’ and now he’s denying it. All I wanted Beare to say to Parks was that this is unacceptable.â€Â

Escutia said police contacted him the next day — one day before a shooter killed five students and then himself at Northern Illinois University.

University Police had received a forwarded e-mail about the incident and wanted to speak to Escutia. During the meeting with University Police, Escutia was reportedly asked if he would be willing to wear a wire, according to The Bee. But Fresno State Police Chief David Huerta reportedly vetoed the plan.

Beare refused to comment directly about Parks̢۪ situation.

“The general process for student complaint about a faculty member is that the student should first take the complaint to the instructor and try to resolve it there,â€Â Beare told The Collegian on Tuesday. “Next would be the department head or chair, and then the dean. There is a certain order of channels to go through. We generally like to keep it localized to the department level.â€Â

Beare said that Parks is a great faculty member and asset to Fresno State. He also said that Escutia “is an outstanding student pursuing his masters.â€Â

Parks has taught at Fresno State for 10 years and was promoted to full professor in 2007. In fall 2007, Parks faced student charges that he was racist and too demanding in a graduate course, according to The Bee. Beare apparently asked Parks to step down from teaching the class — which Parks did.

According to The Fresno Bee article, Parks sometimes said provocative things in his class to make points, and to prepare his students for touch situations in education.

Escutia still can̢۪t believe that his fellow classmates let Parks get away with his behavior.

“Out of everything, how emotionally disturbing it was to deny that almost everyday there’s racial slurs and profanity,â€Â Escutia told The Collegian. “It got to the point that some of my classmates would say racial jokes, too.â€Â

Janette Redd Williams, associate vice president for academic personnel, declined to comment about if the university would do more than just suspend Parks, citing the case as a “private personal matter that is still under investigation.â€Â

In an e-mail to The Collegian, Ashley Prows, a graduate student in Parks̢۪ class, said she fully supports Parks.

“Dr. Parks never made any threats,â€Â Prows wrote. “Although he may be provocative, he challenges our minds and helps us think ‘outside the box.’ He is also trying to break down stereotypical thinking and he is preparing us for the real world.â€Â

The Collegian could not reach Parks for comment.

Additional reporting by Brandon Santiago and Jessica Szalay.